La-La Land is the center of the golf universe this week as the top golfers in the world compete in the 123rd U.S. Open. Here’s everything you need to know about the 156 golfers teeing it up at Los Angeles Country Club.
2023 U.S. Open preview
The golf world was turned on its head last week with the shocking PGA Tour-LIV Golf news, but as players head out west, the focus is (mostly) on the golf.
Defending champion Matthew Fitzpatrick arrives at LACC looking to become the eighth man to win back-to-back U.S. Open titles after his electric victory at Brookline last summer. To do so, he’ll have to fend off a field of fierce competition.
Brooks Koepka, coming off his PGA Championship victory last month, is seeking his sixth major title as he heads to Hollywood with his game as sharp as it’s been in years. If he can hoist the trophy, he’ll become the seventh man to win at least three U.S. Open titles.
Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler, the top two-ranked players in the world, are also in the field as they each look to add to their major totals, while Rory McIlroy looks to break his winless drought in the big ones and claim his fifth major title.
Who earns exemptions to the U.S. Open?
The USGA, who runs the U.S. Open, lists 22 criteria for earning an exemption into the field at LACC. They are as follows.
1. Winners of the last 10 U.S. Opens (2013-2022)
2. Top 10 and ties from 2022 U.S. Open
3. Winner of 2022 U.S. Senior Open
4. Winner of 2022 U.S. Amateur
5. Winners of 2022 U.S. Junior Amateur and U.S. Mid-Amateur, and U.S. Amateur runner-up
6. Winners of the Masters from 2019-2023
7. Winners of the PGA Championship from 2018-2023
8. Winners of The Open from 2017-2022
9. Winners of the Players Championship in 2022 and 2023
10. Winner of the 2022 BMW Championship
11. Those qualifying and eligible for the 2022 Tour Championship
12. Winners of multiple full-point PGA Tour events from the 2022 U.S. Open to the 2023 U.S. Open
13. Winner of the 2022 Amateur staged by the R&A
14. Winner of 2022 Mark McCormack medal for being No. 1-ranked amateur
15. Winner of 2020 Olympic Gold Medal
16. Top 10 in four-event U.S. Open European Qualifying Series that are otherwise not exempt
17. Top finisher from the 2021-2022 Asian Tour Order of Merit
18. Top finisher from the 2021-2022 Australasia Tour Order of Merit
19. Top finisher from the 2021-2022 Sunshine Tour Order of Merit
20. Top 60 of the OWGR as of May 23
21. Top 60 of OWGR as of June 6
22. Special exemptions as selected by the USGA
2023 U.S. Open field
Bastien Amat (a)
Abraham Ancer
Ryan Armour
Paul Barjon
Sam Bennett
Keegan Bradley
Michael Brennan (a)
Barclay Brown (a)
Olin Browne Jr.
Hayden Buckley
Sam Burns
Patrick Cantlay
Frankie Capan
Benn Carr (a)
Christian Cavaliere (a)
Gunn Charoenkul
Stewart Cink
Wyndham Clark
Eric Cole
Corey Conners
Patrick Cover
Joel Dahmen
Jens Dantorp
Cam Davis
Jason Day
Bryson DeChambeau
Alejandro Del Rey
Wenyi Ding (a)
Nicholas Dunlap (a)
Nicolas Echavarria
Austin Eckroat
Harris English
Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira (a)
Tony Finau
Ross Fisher
Matt Fitzpatrick
Tommy Fleetwood
Simon Forsstrom
Rickie Fowler
Ryan Fox
Sergio Garcia
Ryan Gerard
Deon Germishuys
Brent Grant
J.J Grey
Jordan Gumberg
Adam Hadwin
Paul Haley II
Nick Hardy
Brian Harman
Padraig Harrington
Tyrrell Hatton
Russell Henley
Berry Henson
Lucas Herbert
Charley Hoffman
Tom Hoge
Max Homa
Billy Horschel
David Horsey
Viktor Hovland
Mackenzie Hughes
Sungjae Im
Ryo Ishikawa
Dustin Johnson
Yuto Katsuragawa
Martin Kaymer
Si Woo Kim
Tom Kim
Chris Kirk
Kurt Kitayama
Brooks Koepka
Matt Kuchar
Romain Langasque
Thriston Lawrence
Hank Lebioda
K.H. Lee
Min Woo Lee
Luke List
Shane Lowry
Hideki Matsuyama
Denny McCarthy
Matthew McClean (a)
Rory McIlroy
Mac Meissner
Adrian Meronk
Phil Mickelson
Francesco Molinari
Taylor Montgomery
Taylor Moore
Omar Morales (a)
Collin Morikawa
Kyle Mueller
Sebastian Munoz
Ryutaro Nagano
Joaquin Niemann
Wilco Nienaber
Alex Noren
Vincent Norrman
David Nyfjall
Carlos Ortiz
Matthieu Pavon
Taylor Pendrith
Mito Pereira
Corey Pereira
Victor Perez
Thomas Pieters
JT Poston
Aldrich Potgieter (a)
Seamus Power
David Puig
Andrew Putnam
Jon Rahm
Patrick Reed
Patrick Rodgers
Justin Rose
Gordon Sargent (a)
Alex Schaake
Xander Schauffele
Scottie Scheffler
Jesse Schutte
Adam Scott
Isaac Simmons (a)
Roger Sloan
Cameron Smith
Jordan Smith
Jacob Solomon
Jordan Spieth
Scott Stallings
Sam Stevens
Sepp Straka
Kevin Streelman
Justin Suh
Preston Summerhays (a)
Adam Svensson
Andrew Svoboda
Nick Taylor
Sahith Theegala
Justin Thomas
Davis Thompson
Michael Thorbjornsen (a)
Austen Truslow
Brendan Valdes (a)
Karl Vilips (a)
Aaron Wise
Gary Woodland
Dylan Wu
Alexander Yang (a)
Cameron Young
Zephyr Melton
Golf.com Editor
Zephyr Melton is an assistant editor for GOLF.com where he spends his days blogging, producing and editing. Prior to joining the team at GOLF, he attended the University of Texas followed by stops with the Texas Golf Association, Team USA, the Green Bay Packers and the PGA Tour. He assists on all things instruction and covers amateur and women’s golf. He can be reached at zephyr_melton@golf.com.
